Health Connections International news

Rural Women’s Health Forum in CAR

Thu, Oct 14 2010 9:37:56

Health Connections International (HCI) was invited to take part in a roundtable forum in 
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 14 September 2010 focused on the sexual and reproductive 
health and rights (SRHR) of women living in the remote regions of Central Asia. 
The forum–entitled ‘Services to the People: Safe motherhood and the promotion of 
SRHR in rural areas of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan’–was held at the Hyatt 
Hotel in Bishkek.

HCI’s Medical Co-ordinator for the Kyrgyz Republic, Dr Kaliya Toguzbaeva, took part in 
the forum. In addition to meeting with the organisers of the forum to discuss possible 
co-operative links on HCI’s work in the region, Kaliya also expressed the high demand 
amongst HCI’s Medical Moderators in Kyrgyzstan to interact and share professional 
experiences with experts in the fields of obstetrics and gynaecology.

Kaliya also met with the Dutch Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in 
Kazakhstan, Mr Frans Potuyt, to express the gratitude of the Kyrgyz people to the 
Dutch government for its on-going and generous support of HCI’s in-country programming.

The safe motherhood and SRHR roundtable was made possible through a partnership 
between the Reproductive Health Alliance and the Netherlands School of Public and 
Occupational Health (NSPOH), with financial support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

HCI welcomes and looks forward to a continuing dialogue with the participants of the forum 
as well as with the organisers on how we may work towards improving SRHR and ensuring safe 
motherhood for all women across the Central Asian region.

IDPC Drug Policy Guide now available in Russian

Wed, Jul 14 2010 11:35:23

Health Connections International (HCI) is pleased to announce the release of the Russian-language version of the International Drug Policy Consortium’s Drug Policy Guide.

Produced with national-level decision and policy makers in mind, the Drug Policy Guide details international experiences and best practices on the design and implementation of drug policies that have been carried out in various countries.

Given the need for sound policies and strategies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia necessary for responding to the drug use epidemics, HCI together with IDPC, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) and World AIDS Campaign (WAC) worked together to produce and make available a Russian-language version of this important document. By doing so, it is our hope that national programmes and protocols across the region to address drug-related harm will now be more firmly based both on a human rights– and evidence–based approach.

We at HCI are delighted to make this important guide available [pdf, 2 mb, in Russian]. English and Spanish versions of the guide are also available through the IDPC website.

To learn more about IDPC, EHRN and WAC, visit their websites at the following addresses:

HCI bids farewell to Rustam Maxudov

Wed, Jun 30 2010 13:30:48

Health Connections International (HCI) announces the departure of Mr Rustam Maxudov, Country Liaison Co-ordinator in Tajikistan, from the HCI team. While we are saddened that he has decided to leave the organisation, we wish him much success in his future endeavours and extend our sincerest gratitude for his hard work and dedication.

Mr Maxudov assumed the role of Country Liaison Co-ordinator for Tajikistan for HCI in March 2009. During his time with us, he played pivotal role as the organisation’s primary representative at the country level. Amongst his many successes in this position over the past 15 months, he oversaw the set up of our in-country office and the establishment and formalisation of relationships with various in-country stakeholders. In addition, he was instrumental in setting up and co-ordinating HCI’s initial Approval and Strategy Meeting; the in-country training seminars for Medical Moderators; the selection, evaluation and set-up of 12 Focal Points to serve as local-level support structures; and the recruitment of the 12 National Medical Moderators to staff each of HCI’s Focal Points.

Rustam’s contract will end as of 30 June 2010. On behalf of all of those who have worked with him during his time at HCI, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude for his dedication, hard work and tireless efforts in carrying out his responsibilities. And, we wish him much success and happiness in all of his future endeavours.

HCI completes its third training seminar for National Medical Moderators in Central Asia

Thu, Jun 17 2010 10:09:23

Health Connections International (HCI) held its third training seminar for its National Medical Moderators in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, which took place 14–16 June 2010. The focus of this particular training centred around the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/TB co-infection.

Given the focus of HCI as an organisation and the high incidence of TB in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, this particular training seminar was designed to address issues related to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of TB in both adults and children. Likewise, with high rates of multi-drug resistant TB and co-infection of HIV and TB quite common in both countries, a considerable amount of time was devoted to covering these key topics as well. In order to best meet the needs of healthcare professionals in Central Asia, all of the topics included in the training seminar were selected based on the stated preferences of National Medical Moderators.

HCI is grateful to various regional and international experts for taking part and the delivery of topic-specific sessions during this training seminar. In particular, HCI extends its sincere gratitude to the following:
- Mr Ilhom Rahimov, Head of the Medical Department, Red Crescent National Society of Tajikistan;
- Dr Tologom Chubakov, Rector, Kyrgyz State Medical Institute for Continuing Education;
- Dr Djemma Jyspdjanova, Tuberculosis Education, ‘Project HOPE’ in Tajikistan;
- Mr Yagdar Turekhanov, Project Officer in the Republic of Tajikistan, AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW);
- Dr Umed Talbov, Dushanbe AIDS Centre, Tajikistan; and,
- Dr Jake Dunning, Imperial College, London, UK.

Sessions included lectures combined with group work and discussions on particular case studies. In addition to the focus on TB, sessions on harm reduction in relation to TB as well as a discussion of the National Medical Moderators’ experiences with HCI’s innovative knowledge- and information-sharing platform (KISP; www.myhci.org) were also included.

Whilst the training was intended to bring all 24 National Medical Moderators from both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Dushanbe for the training, recent events in Kyrgyzstan meant that several local staff from the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan were not able to attend. Plans are underway to ensure that these individuals do not miss out on the valuable information gleaned from the training seminar.

Early reports have hailed this training seminar as a great success, with new knowledge and skills surrounding TB gained and the opportunity to further solidify professional and personal bonds.

HCI becomes a Network Member of the IDPC

Mon, Jun 7 2010 11:37:32

Health Connections International (HCI) is delighted to accept an invitation to join the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) as a Network Member.

IDPC is a worldwide network of non-governmental organisations and professional associations unified in endorsing objective and open debate on drug policy issues at both the national and global levels. Furthermore, the IDPC is an avid supporter of evidence-based harm reduction policies.

HCI fully supports and embraces IDPC’s vision, mission and policy principles, and strives towards ensuring that drug-related policies are based on effective harm reduction strategies and evidence-based practices.

HCI would like to thank the IDPC for this welcome invitation and gratefully accepts the status as Network Member. We look forward to working with IDPC and other Network Members in future.

To learn more about the IDPC, please visit their website at http://www.idpc.net/.